thompson



(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. S. PALMER-8: O. E. THOMPSON.

SLIDING DOOR HANGER. v No. 340.150. Patented AprI ZO, 1 886.

b! e I l 9 by i I a FIG, I, .1.

Witnesses Inventors:

a 8, PALMER, n/vp THOMPSO PETERS, Pholo-Lilhographnr Washington. D. C.

I 2 Sheets-Sheet? S. PALMER 82; G. E. THOMPSON.

(ModeL) mines-36 Inventor:

N. PETERS, Phnlo-Lhhegnphnr. Wnhingwn. DJ:

7 UNITED STATES FATENT @rrrca.

STEPHEN PALMER AND CHARLES E. THOMPSON, OF LANSINGBUBG, N. Y.

' SLIDING-DOOR HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,150, dated April 20, 1886.

Application filed February 5, 1885. Serial No. 154,995. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, STEPHEN PALMER and CHARLES E. THOMPSON, both of Lansingburg, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in SlidingDoor Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in mechanisms for hanging sliding doors; and the object of our improvements is to provide means for hanging such doors so that they may be operated with ease, and with but little, if any, friction of the working parts. This object we attain by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, being herein referred to, form part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sliding door provided with our improvements; Fig. 2, an enlarged transverse section of the upper part of a sliding door provided with our improvements; Fig. 3, an enlarged plan view of the ball-roller carriage; Fig. 4, an enlarged inverted plan view of part of the grooved track; Fig. 5, an enlarged front elevation of one of the door-suspenders; and Fig. 6, a magnified perspective view of one of the brackets for holding the rail or track.

As illustrated in the drawings, A indicates a sliding door, which may be made of any desired size or form, and a is the upper rail of said door; B, a grooved rail whichforms the track on which the door A is moved. Said rail is secured, by means of the brackets O, in the open space D ofahollow partition,in which said door is fitted to slide. A concave groove or gutter, b, is formed in the upper side of said rail, as shown in Fig. 2. The rail B has a removable section, B, for the purpose of providing an opening through which the carriage E and traveling bar F can be placed in position on said rail. Said removable section is fitted to the conjoining parts by means of bevel-joints b, having tongues 12', which fit into corresponding slots out into the ends of the conjoining parts of the rail.

0n the under side of each of the tongues b a turn-button, b is pivoted, and so arranged that when turned in line with the tongue it presents no obstruction to the insertion or removal of said tongue into and out from its corresponding slot; but when said buttons are turned crosswise, as shown in Fig. 4, they lock the section B securely in its place in the rail B. The grooved rail B is finished uniformly on its upper face; and the object of the removable section B is to afford facilities for fixing in place the movable parts,which travel on the rail B, after the latter is secured in place.

Each of the brackets O by which the rail B is Supported, consists of a back plate, 0', and a horizontal lug, which forms a right angle to the back plate. Said back plate is provided .with an offset, 0, by which said plate is divided into two vertical planes, the lower plane, c,standing in advance of the upper plane, 0, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. The difference in position of said plane is made by the offset a, formed on the outer face of said back plate, and is for the purpose of centralizing the rail B in the space I), and for giving a proper clearance for the traveling bar'F, so that the latter can perform its movements without rubbing against the plane 0*. The rail B is fitted to bear against the lower vertical plane, 0 and is secured to said plane and lug by means of screws, the screw-holes 0 being provided for the purpose.

E is a carriage or frame which contains a train of spherical rollers or balls, 6, of uniform size, but whose diameter is preferably made less than the circle of which the groove b is an arc, as shown in Fig. 2. The carriage E has a series of transverse pins, 6', which are arranged at regular distances, and which serve to keep the rollers e spaced at their required positions. Each of the rollers e is bored diametrically with a hole of greater diameter than the pins 6', as shown by the sectional view of one of the rollers in Fig. 3, and by this means the rollers e are left free to revolve independently of any bearing on the pins 6', the only purpose of the latter being to properly space the rollers and maintain them in their assigned positions; but, when preferred, the pins 0 may be dispensed wit-h, and in such cases the rollers 6 will be kept in their positions by the openings 0 in the carriage E. The rollers e are adapted to roll in the groove 12 of the rail B, and by their rotations they produce an endwise movement of the carriage E, and the latter is retained in its required position endwise in relation to the door A by stops 1), which are made in the form of rightangled knee-pieces having-their vertical limbs inserted through mortises made in the rail B, and their horizontal limbs secured to the under face of the rail B in such manner that said stops can be removed without displacing the rail B. The carriage E will strike against said stops when it has reached the end of its movement, and will thereby be forced to its proper place.

F is a traveling bar, whose length is preferably made equal to the width of the door A. Said bar is provided on its under edge with a longitudinal groove, f, whose concavity is uniform with that of the groove 1) in the grooved rail, and the grooved edge of the said traveling bar rests upon the spherical rollers e in such manner that the said bar can be moved endwise over the grooved rail B with but little friction. The suspenders or door-hangers G are secured to the traveling bar F, and each of said-suspenders is provided with a back plate having an offset, 9, whereby theinner face of said back plate is divided into two vertical planes, one in advance of the other. Said offset is made for the purpose of forming at the upper part of said suspcndersa vertical bearing to which the traveling bar F is secured, so as to obtain sufficient clearance of them from the rail B to permit the said traveling bar to perform its movements without bringing the suspenders G into frictional contact with the rail B. The offset portion of each suspender is carried down far enough to amply clear the lower edge of the rail B and its attached parts.

On the lower end of each suspender G a hook, g, is made in the form of an inwardly projecting horizontal pin, which extends underneath the rail B in such manner that the hook-bolt H, when attached to the hook y, will be centralized below the center line of the rail B. The hook-bolts H are inserted in the top of the upper rail, a, of the door, and so as to be in the center line of said rail. Each of said hookbolts is provided with an open hook adapted to engage over the horizontal pin of the hook G. A transverse bar, h, is fitted to slide on the body of the bolt, and is secured thereto by means of a set-screw, h, whereby provision is made for adjusting the door A to a required height from the floor, to throw the i entire weight upon the rollers e, and to relieve the door from frictionalcontact with the floor. The holes bored in the face of the rail a, for receiving the transverse bars h, are capped over by screw-escutcheons I. which should be let in so as to finish fiush with the face of said rail.

We claim as our invention- 1. The combination, with the rail B, having a concave groove, b, and the traveling bar F, having a concave groove, f, of the carriage E, provided with a series of transverse pins, e, and containing a series of spherical rollers, e, loosely fitted on the pins e, as herein described, the said grooved rail, traveling bar, and carriage being arranged in relation to each other, to operate as herein specified.

2. The grooved rail B, having a removable section, B, as herein described, the said removable section being provided with fastening-buttons I), as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. The combination, with brackets 0, each consisting of a back plate, 0, provided with a vertical lug, c, and with two vertical planes, 0 and a, which are formed by the offset 0, directly in said back-plate, the lower plane. a, (which is in advance of the upper plane. 0%) forming a bearing to which the rail B is secured, whereby said rail is centralized in the space D, as herein described, of the grooved rail B, the carriage E. provided with spherical rollers e, and the traveling bar F, all constructed and arranged to operate as herein specified.

4. The combination, with a rail, B, of a stop, I), made in the form of a right-angled knee having its vertical limb inserted through the rail B and its horizontal limb secured to the under face of said rail, as and for the purpose herein specified.

5. The combination, with a grooved rail, B,

and a carriage, E, provided with spherical' rollers e, as herein described, ofthe traveling bar F, having secured thereto the suspenders G, provided with hooks g, as described, and

the door A, provided with hook-bolts H, which engage with the hooks g, in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

STEPHEN PALMER.

' CHARLES E. THOMPSON.

\Vitnesses:

W'M. H. Low, S. B. BREWER. 

